The Apprentices (The Crimson Guard Trilogy Book 1) Read Free

handle I thought to myself this is the dumbest thing I could ever do.
    Quickly I remembered the one spell I knew and prepared myself for the onslaught.  With tremendous fortitude my arms threw open the door and I ran in yelling.  My battle cry soon turned into a murmur as I realized that not a soul was there.  I stood in astonishment, wondering how they had escaped without my knowledge.  A pain spread out from the back of my head, and I noticed the floor getting closer and darker. 
    “Hello, hello anyone there?” My vision had not yet cleared.  “Maybe I am dead, am I dead?” I could have guaranteed that I was dead until I got a reply.
    “Don’t worry, you aren’t dead” came a deep voice.
    “Thank you for telling me, I guess it’s a relief.”  As the words left my mouth I realized how stupid they were.  Now surely he will finish me off.  To my amazement, he spoke again. “Sorry about the head, I thought you were one of them.”
    “Who are they exactly?”
    Without hesitation, he answered “Oh, they are…”
    “They are who?”  I replied anxiously, forgetting the pain resonating from my head. He was too far lost in thought to hear me.
    “Well, I would appreciate the knowledge.”  I said sarcastically. “Hey!  I am talking to you stranger.  I am very confused right now and you are not helping me at all except for the splitting headache!  So I would appreciate some answers right now.”  As soon as I said this, I knew that I was in trouble. 
    Slowly, with no feeling other than the deepest hate, he spoke. “They are just men, men who have been changed by their queen.  The queen has many advocates and one of them leads these men.  His is a sad story of pain and suffering, he once trained in this very house.  It was long before when your master was just a student.  That is all I am going to tell you.” 
    Quickly he handed me a rolled up parchment with a note attached.  As the mysterious stranger neared the door, he turned and spoke one last time.  “I will meet you again, but for now you must leave this place.  That which you hold,” I looked down at the scroll. “Will give you some answers.  Answers to questions you have yet to think of.  Good bye.”  He disappeared into the shadowed corridor.
    Dumbfounded, I stood, for what seemed an eternity.  Nothing moved; the silence was absolute.
    A small creaking sound brought me back to reality.  The sound of footsteps echoed throughout the house, a feeling of joy washed through me.  The mysterious man was returning, hopefully with more answers.  As the welcoming ‘thud, thud’ of steps drew closer, I realized that the stranger had come and gone like the wind, swiftly and silently.
    Now a different set of emotions took hold, fear.  Frantically I looked about; a weapon was all I needed; something; anything. 
    As I continued searching the door burst open. A dark figure stood in the only exit to the chamber.  Now I was trapped. 
    A deep rumbling voice ripped through my thoughts.  “I have come to finish the job I should have done before.”
    Madly, I started searching for a way out.  What was I to do?  I knew what job he spoke of and I did not want him to finish it.
    The figure slowly closed the distance between me and death.  Death is my most terrible fear. With it so close, I was not afraid.  I realized that if my life was taken here, no one would save my master.  The distance between us suddenly closed with speed unbelievable for a human.  Within seconds I knew that I would feel the cold truth of an assassin’s blade. 
    “I will enjoy adding your name to my long list of victims.  At least give me one last word.”  I forced myself to remain expressionless as he said this. “Nothing, fine; I will just make you scream.”
    Swiftly the cat-like killer dug the blade deep into the soft flesh of my leg.  As soon as the blade pierced, a new sensation came over me.  It was different than fear, the sensation suddenly